Athanasiou had threatened to take his talents to the KHL. The threat became more and more of a reality as the Red Wings didn’t have enough room to sign Athanasiou. After defenseman Ryan Sproul showed up to training camp and failed his physical, the expectation is that the extra money that will be saved will be used on Athanasiou.

Athanasiou played in 64 games and scored 18 goals while pitching in 11 assists for a total of 29 points. He did this all while having one of the best scoring rates in the NHL given his time on ice.